The Function of Eyes in Conan the Barbarian #3

The function of eyes in Conan the Barbarian #3

The recurrence of the cinematic “close up” in Aaron and Asrar’s run of Conan the Barbarian is especially noticeable in the third issue. The artist makes great use of the gaze of characters, both to focus audience attention and effect the reader response to specific characters. On the first page of the comic, where we are informed that the setting is Nemedia, the first of three panels is dominated by the red face of a hanged man, whose eyes stare downwards. In diagetic space the man is seeing his death below him, and the reader naturally will want to know what he is staring at. The very eyes themselves guide the reader’s eye downwards to the next panel, and we see the man quickly falling to the dogs.

Later the grim face of Conan stares out at the reader before he is to be hung, but unlike the helpless and fearful eyes of the hanged man, Conan’s face is shaded and has a look of anger upon it. Later, the priest of Mitra stares out at the audience, his smug smile and relative height to the sitting Conan give him an air of haughtiness. Because the priest is not just talking to Conan but also to the reader, it is easy to feel contempt for him, and the reader will presumably not be much bothered when Conan throttles him.
In the very next panel the reader is met with the gaze of a soldier, highlighted by his appearance on the left hand of the page and the representation of light in the space beyond the panel. Through this the reader is given the impression that someone important has just arrived. The shocked expression of the guard is revealed to be in response to the coming of the village inquisitor, but the reaction isn’t justified until the next page, when it is revealed that he is wielding a crossbow and intends to kill the priest. The reader expectations in all of these cases are shaped by the depiction of diagetic reactions.

Miles Morales: Spider-man blog post 2: Shift in Paratext Iconography and Style

How Line and Iconography Can Be Used to Sway a Reader

By: Elias Christian Pacheco

When Miles Morales: Spider-man #1 dropped in comic shops on December 12th, 2018,
 it was released two weeks prior to the release of Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse in cinemas.
 The film bought a new perspective to how to adapt a comic book, and literally 
(as literal as a comics page can be) brought Miles and other spider heroes to life. 
This effectively drove up the sales, and interest, in the ongoing title.  
So, by this reception to the film, by the time the second issue had been released, 
the interior at had stayed the same as the first issue, yet the cover was drastically changed from 
what had preceded it, mainly in order to draw in film goers to the title.  
The para text, specifically the cover, of the second issue has a drastic change to the art style, 
and heightens and highlights the shift in iconography to draw in the film audience.

To begin, the most striking difference is that of the color palette.  
When compared to the first issue, the reds of his suit have a lighter quality while also having 
the black of the suit be more bluish in tone to fit the film’s highly stylized cartoon aesthetic.  
Jumping off from this point, the line work gives off a sense of cartooning that would be closer 
to an animated film. The lines are much more simplified and less detailed, having a greater emphasis placed on having 
Miles look more smooth and plastic.  The shading as well is less of a black spread across with darker shades of red to simulate shading,
 as is the case for the first issue, instead it appears to replace that with a more standard idea in comics with that of a rigid construct of lighter areas to create highlight, 
as well as the use of benday dots and slanted lines to reinforce the idea of the classic comic book feel, which was again featured heavily in the film adaptation.

Probably the most striking evidence to support this marketing strategy is the iconography of the
 main elements that draw you into the cover.  The most blatant of those being the six speech
 bubbles with simplistic icons of everyday life, which again feed into the classic idea of the
 modern comic, and have the reader be able to identify these elements easily, as well as associate 
their style with that of the animation.  However, a very clever use of iconography is that on 
Miles Morales himself. Having his symbol be large and bolded in the background surrounding 
him is a clever way to pay homage to his suit in the film, with the line of his suit encompassing
 the spider within, much like Miles’ suit does in the film.  As well, the face of Miles, while still
 being cartoonish in style, evokes a sense of classic animated Spidey, say from the sixties,
 to give a hidden style to that of animation and Spider-man while also creating an arthrological weave
 back to the history of the animated Spider-man. Yet the most damning piece of evidence are his eyes. 
 They are overdrawn and given a cartoon shine, with the lenses using the sine and some shading to
 give them a somewhat line configuration around the eye, which would evoke the main visual of the
 promotional material for Spider-verse, which were the eyes of Miles Morales’ mask. 
With this analysis of the theory and paratext, as well as the intertextuality, it gives light to the strategies 
of companies to draw in a bigger reading group from the films.

Miles Morales: Spider-man Blog Post 1: General Arthrology

Analyzing Arthrology Through the Spider-men

By: Elias Christian Pacheco

When the character of Miles Morales was created, it was answering a simple question: 
How do we re-create the same sense of wonder that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko did back in 1962?  
This task was given to Brian Michael Bendis and Sarah Pichelli, yet it was not until the newest ongoing
 series that focuses on the character where the most potent of a connection between both versions was 
established.  Writer Saladin Ahmed and artist Javier Garron took on the recently iconic character to bring 
back the sense of Peter Parker to the character to Morales. The ongoing series Miles Morales: Spider-man 
 is effective in establishing an arthrological connection through weaving, to have the audience create a link 
between the original idea of Spider-man and Miles version.

For a jumping on point, lets start with how the overall character of Miles has changed with this series. 
 Not generally speaking of his physical character, he still is the same Miles with the same costume, and 
still has his same home life and friends.  When referring to character, it refers to the idea of the 
character of his actions. Ahmed made the decision to have his Miles be more grounded like Peter, 
and focus on his everyday struggles down in the streets of Brooklyn, like juggling high school, family, friends,
 his girlfriend, and fighting crime.  This echoes the original writing of Peter Parker, in the sense that Lee 
wanted to make the character an image that teen readers could relate to. 
 Thus, it makes more of a focus on showing Peter and Miles as a teenager in high school, 
with Miles borrowing the inner monologues commonly used with Peter showing their grief rather than
 showing them punch their way out of a situation in their spider-suits.  

In doing this in the current series, it creates an arthrological connection to Peter through Miles,
 specifically through weaving, having the actions that Miles makes and his inner turmoils demonstrated 
through monologues set up a weaved connection back to the original Peter, creating a stronger line to Miles being a re-invention of Spider-man for a new world. In terms of a physical, narrative world, weaving connections are established by both Ahmed and Garron by placing Miles in the world of the original Spider-man.  The first issue also sees Miles in his original setting of Brooklyn, while Peter is in Queens, but still they pit Miles against classic Spidey foe, the Rhino. They construct a familiar setting around both characters, with Rhino being caught red handed in a robbery and being apprehended by Miles, while he totes off quips towards the big brute.  Having this interaction again sets up a connection, weaving in different characters, as again weaving a path back towards Peter for the reader to engage with him and place him as the newest Spider-man for the audience.

Following up with the first issue I published last time, I would say that the second issue of Daredevil has made a triumphant come back from close devastating wounds futile. The clock ticks as Daredevil chases for intimations to demonstrate his innocence. Blamed for homicide and chased by what appears the whole city. In only two issues, he's layered rich storytelling and full-grown characters voiced with unique excellence to make, what they tout in the book-world as, a page-turner. This isn't simply hyperbole. The out of control ravings of a hyper Daredevil hardcore, fiending after a quality hit. This is the plain and straightforward truth. In the wake of the current week's Oscars, the narrating and the nature of composing is keeping pace with being deserving of brilliant statue wonder.

The acting, the illustrative way that Marco Checchetto uses his characters to play out Zdarsky's words is just one sublime note in a symphony of great art. The unpretentious creative praises proceed with Checchetto's rendering of The Kingpin, reviewing John Romita, Jr's. forcing work from the Man Without Fear limited series.

It's not simply the speed lines and muscles on the assumption that let you know precisely how hard a substantial sack is being chipped away at the opening page. It's the strong, sizable PAF that befuddles your eyeballs into supposing they're your ears. The sound of DD's billy club propelling into the night air should look amusing, balancing the solitary activity of the board. However, it's impeccably adjusted to work in a state of harmony with the picture. The climactic minute, the penultimate demonstration of the issue? You best trust it wouldn't have the breaking sway it manages without the productive ability of Clayton Cowles. 

In terms of colouring, I would useMcCloud’s theory of words and colours which states that Colour can be said to have physical and emotional effects. This works really well in this issue where the use of colour in comics has been limited due to commerce and technology. As McCloud says that colour is made by the combination of cyan, magenta and yellow are mixed. Also, Colour costs more to produce but also makes for better sales. To get the brightness and contrast costumed heroes were dressed in bright primary colours and lived in a bright primary world. Often the effect of the many colours was overall dulling in emotional effect. The colours had iconic power, as the colours of the heroes costumes became iconic. Flat colour also emphasizes the shape of objects making them stand out from the background.

 

I chose to do my first blog on the first issue of Marvel Daredevil LGY#613 which is called the man without fear written by Zdarsky and Checcetto. This edition has a lot of messy grounded colures and the cover is really dynamic. 

In this issue, the hero does uncommon things which are pushing and threatening a cap whereas he was supposed to be working together. Also, there are a lot of flashbacks and then we see Daredevil alone in all threads in a one-night stand. Basically, the story is about the hero wants to get back to the game after being crushed by a truck. 

For those who only started to read this issue, they are not capable enough to keep up with the sequence of events because this issue does not actually explain what we have missed. The story was written as a lifetime movie. In this issue, there is a lot of work done on the characters development but little in actions’ development. 

It wasn’t seen as a horrific but rather as more like a detective story. It is a really good first issue because it shows how the writer balances his life through visualities. Zdarsky dives in and focuses on the Catholic aspects of Daredevil.

Here is a radical twist from holly sacred setting from a church to a daily life setting in a bedroom.     

 

In these images, it is obvious that punch of strangers is being followed by Daredevil.    

The panel has a view of nighttime of a city with bolding the word “CHOK ” which signifies the blood that comes out of the hero. Even though the reader does not get to see the actual accident, they still can sense that the man is aggressively and physically approached by another man throughout the signs that the author chose to use especially the use of vocabulary which is been mentioned and discussed by McCloudUnderstanding Comics, Ch. 2. Also, the time that the reader takes to read the comic does not necessarily mean that it has to deal with the timing and rhythming of these comics. But it has to do with the author and how he directs the reader through the narrative choices. As well, Bongco argues that In comics, time is a function of space, and panels serve as divisions of time,” (80). McCloud provides a diagram which explains the six different timing transitions. The first panel-to-panel transition is moment-to-moment, which can take place over a few seconds. The second is action-to-action, which is also usually quick but is focused on a single action. The third is subject-to-subject, which can take place within one scene. Next is scene-to-scene, which brings the reader across different settings. Fifth is aspect-to-aspect which brings the reader across different scenes, ideas, emotions, or aspects.

Eventually, there is non-sequitur where comic panels don't share any sort of relationship (McCloud, 70-74). These distinctive timing transitions fill in as an author's narrating tools. Without a doubt, the creator of these panels could have made an alternate storyboard with more boards that happen in the middle of the left and ideal to give more detail of the occasion. authors must choose which panels are important to make the ideal comprehension of the event, just as work that is stylishly satisfying. They pick what they will put in the panel and what they should forget for the per user’s conclusion. A per user’s comprehension of the story is one of the greatest variables when settling on innovative choices.

To Be Continued ...Next Issue

        

Mulling over Middlewest 

by Alia Sabzwari

The comic that I have chosen is issue #4 of Middlewest by Skottie Young and Jorge Corona. I was attracted to this comic due to the expansive imagery of the cover page as well as the mixture of both dark, almost ominous colors mixed with the softer, almost water color like drawings. And I’ll admit, I am a sucker for a story with a cool-looking robot.      

              

A first glance of the cover may cause the reader to think the story is about the child front and center with their robot, but neither of these characters are our main protagonist. In fact, our main protagonist is the faceless child on the bottom right corner of the cover. Did you see him? Go back and look at the cover again, he’s right at the bottom, running for his life, it seems. I’ll wait. You’re back? Cool, but I’ll say this: I did not even notice the faceless child at first. After all, why would our main protagonist, whom we spend almost the entirety of this issue with, be so inconspicuous? 


Among the main techniques that Young and Corona use to convey the meaning of this story is in the speech bubbles and the panels themselves. Wrench the robot’s speech bubbles are noticeably different then the human characters. While the speech bubbles for the humans are square with softer corners, Wrench’s bubbles are rigid and sharp as are the font of his letters. This creates an interesting phenomenon in regards to how we “hear” the voice of Wrench in our minds. The sharpness of the speech bubble calls to mind a computer screen with words appearing and our background knowledge relating to robots allows us to make the connection between robots and computers. Therefore, the reader understands what Wrench is supposed to sound like; a comic cannot create sound. However, the design of the speech bubbles is to give us an idea of what Wrench is supposed to sound like: robotic and rigid, in comparison to the human characters. 

So, why isn’t the main character the focus of this issue? My stance: the main character does not have a clear identity. Throughout the issue, the main character’s name is never mentioned: he is only ever referred to as “Kid.” Further evidence for this position, is that there are several times throughout the comic, when the Kid’s face simply disappears, typically in scenes where he feels confused or lost.

Young plays around with panels several more times in this issue: they open up and disappear when he wishes to show how bigger the tents in the amusement park are than the Kid (who cannot afford anything there and is simply reminded of how they are too great for him to obtain)

During the chase scene between Wrench and Kid, the panels become noticeably shorter, forcing the reader to move quickly between one panel to the next. There is no dialogue at all during the chase scene, which means that the reader would not spend any time reading words.

The above spread feels very much like a chase scene film straight out of a movie, even ending on a small panel of the Kid blearily looking at something off panel. This panel creates a strong sense of suspense as the reader immediately wants to know what will happen next, encouraging the reader to turn the page and determine the outcome of the chase.

But my personal favorite is this page. 

It is fascinating to me how the Kid’s face is split into two panels: in the first panel he is visibly desperate and frightened, but in the second (after he is divided by the thugs chasing him), he is angry and determined. To me, what is demonstrated by both words and pictures is the psychological division of the Kid, which connects to his uncertain identity throughout the issue. Is he a frightened child or a brave fighter? Like a true child or “kid,” he is growing and trying to discover who he is.

And perhaps, just what he is. In the following page the Kid unleashes his scream, demonstrating that he possesses a strong power through his scream: which is so powerful that no onomatopoeia can do it justice. In other words, the silence (we take it) is deafening.

The last page-and the last thing I will talk about-does show a scream…but it does not come from the Kid, whose mouth is visibly closed in this scene. We are left to indicate that whoever is screaming is doing so as a result of the damage that the Kid’s scream has brought. This time, the Kid is shining in light, but he is surrounded by darkness, symbolizing death and leaving it up to the reader's imagination as to what will happen next.